Pages

Friday, May 27, 2011

Jumpstart to Grilling Season-- Need Inspiration?

Memorial Weekend has become the shotgun start to uncovering Weber's, Gas Grills, Big Green Egg's or Hibachi's. For those of us who planted our garden tomatoes, we are anxiously awaiting for those beautiful orbs to make themselves known.

For me, it's a time to temporarily put away my hot soups, stews and casserole recipes and to think about some outdoor cooking! I just finished prepping a beautiful cut of Tri-Tip, Santa Maria Style. As I type, the meat is coated with olive oil, lots of freshly minced garlic and some coarse salt. Tomorrow, it will be grilled over coals until it has a beautiful brown crust, with some medium-rare meat. Oh, it's a Carnivore's Delight! I thought I would post some photos and links of a few tried-and-truly delicious summer recipes that my husband and I plan to recreate over the next few months:

Antipasto Pasta Salad is an America's Test Kitchen success story. The marinated mushrooms are good, all by themselves, by the way.

Just in time for the Memorial Weekend, my husband picked his first bowl of our own homegrown olallieberries. Berry Pie makes my husband weak at the knees. (It's my secret weapon.)

Until I bought this excellent book on grilling, my husband was deathly afraid of trying to grill.

He stressed about it, because he shamelessly admits that he isn't a cook. I bought this book for Craig because it has lots of color step-by-step photos on how to grill. Both of us have learned a lot of very helpful tips on grilling. Craig has become quite the Grill Master!I'm thankful that I can focus on being in the kitchen, while he tends to the main course!

Because I'm thankful for so many things-- that we are blessed with great weather... that our part of our country has been spared natural disasters... that I am thankful for those who gave their lives for our country-- and that is really what Memorial Weekend is all about-- I want to bless someone with a copy of this book.

All you have to do is to leave a comment on this post. Either share your favorite thing(s) you like to grill. Or share your worst grill disaster. Or, just share your thoughts on what Memorial Day means to you. You have until Monday morning, and I will randomly choose a winner.

26 comments:

My flag is flying, I planted red geraniums, blue daze and white shasta daisies in the pots by my front door. On Sunday I'm grilling PW's marinated flank stake. In addition to that I'm making deviled eggs and a big green salad. I'm proud to be an American.

Ooooh everything looks delish! My favorite thing to grill is fresh mahi, with a pressed coconut milk-macademian nuts-bread crumbs-butter-s&p topping. YUMMO. This year on Memorial Day I'll be thinking about how lucky I am to be married to a wonderful military pilot, and how blessed I am that he made it home safely from Iraq, when not everyone else was as fortunate. God bless our troops!

Debbie, Everything looks so good here! I can't pick a favorite thing to grill, pork roast, burgers, pizza, Italian sausage, veggies, clams, shrimp, etc! Whatever I'm in the mood for that day. I have that book Deb, so take me out of your giveaway, I just came over to drool!

My favorite thing to grill is corn on the cob. We grill up huge piles of fresh picked ears of corn. We then cover the picnic table with butcher paper and add spray bottles of a butter/ lemon mixture and some salt. Then we ring the bell and all the kids (ours and have the neighbor hood kids) come running. We have a blast!

My husband is not much of a griller, god love him, so my eldest son did the honor one evening. I heard a loud woosh, only to find a pale boy holding a box of matches. He had soaked the wood with fire starter fluid, then....turned on the gas, closed the lid and striked the match. Thankful for the good-life...freedom, health, family & friends! They were the yummiest steaks ever and now he is grown and grills for all occasions. Food is the center of our holidays iced with love and accented with tradition. A secret vinegar soaked BBQ chicken is my all time favorite grill recipe!

Improving my grilling skills is at the top of my to-do list this summer. I'm going to start with that scrumptious looking tri-tip. You share so many wonderful recipes and grilling tips and you've inspired me to keep at it.

Now that's quite a spread of grilled goodies, Deb! You two must really be pros at the grill! This is my husband's forte' and one in which I need to improve greatly!

What does Memorial Day mean to me? Spending time at the gravesites of my family, being grateful for those who have fought and died for us in this great country . . . all the way back to our young country's FIRST wars for freedom, and lastly, I remember joyful family get-togethers to grill simple burgers and hot dogs. We never did anything fancy and yet we still enjoyed everything and everyone!

Wow, all those dishes look fantastic. I would never have thought about using fig jam on burgers but can't wait to try. I can tell you're from California because my Santa Barbara friend always talks about tri-tip, but we don't have that cut here in NJ. Happy Memorial Day.

Debby, jumping off grilling season was right... these grilled bites looks wonderful. I spent Memorial day out with my veteran on the lake and it was beautiful but we missed out on some of those wonderful grilling ideas. We're kicking it up this weekend with a full 9lb. filet mignon tenderloin. thanks for sharing.ahealthyjalapeno.comLaura

Wow, this post is jam-packed with amazing food that screams of summer! I think I'm with your husband because I love a good pulled pork sandwich with some creamy coleslaw on the side. Makes me hungry just thinking about it. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday!

Welcome!

Welcome to my internet kitchen. Please, sit back and relax, and watch me make delicious food and bakery recipes. Most of my recipes are simple, flavorful meals-- and a few baked treats. I focus on using fresh, seasonal ingredients and I try to avoid using boxed mixes and processed foods. I'm having fun learning how to cook like my grandmother once did-- from scratch! I hope that my step-by-step photos will inspire a timid cook to try them. Even if you're a seasoned cook, hopefully you'll learn a new tip or two.

If you have any questions,or just want to say "hello", please feel free to email me: foodiewife@gmail.com

Join Me On Facebook

My Cookbook Collection

My Beloved Pressure Cooker

Please respect my photo's copyrights!

Please be courteous. Don't steal my content!

Unfortunately, I am finding that my photos are being copied and used on other blogs. This is not cool to do, so please don't!If you'd like to use one of my photographs, all you have to do is email me at foodiewife@gmail.com. Please, do not use my photographs to represent a recipe that isn't mine, and without linking it back to me. Failure to use my work without my permission is copyright infringement. Thank you!

Looking for a specific recipe? Start here:

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Please start your Amazon shopping here. I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you!

Lemony Roasted Asparagus

Bavarian Hot Cross Buns

Meyer Lemon Tartlettes

Grab A Button

Do you "Pinterest"?

Privacy Policy

This policy is valid from 30 August 2014

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.